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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Meatloaf with Panko Bread Crumbs

As a kid, meatloaf was probably my least favorite meal! I remember watching an episode of Wheel of Fortune years ago where one of the contestants, as he was being introduced, announced that his favorite meal was meatloaf. This seemed so strange to me at the time. How could someone's favorite meal be meatloaf??? Well, it will never be my favorite meal but I have learned to appreciate it over the years. After I got married, I started to search for a great meatloaf recipe. I have tried many in the seven years I have been married to my hubby, but always went on the search for another recipe to try. It wasn't until last year that I finally found THE recipe!! I was 8 1/2 months pregnant at the time. I had just been introduced to using Panko (Japanese style) bread crumbs and began to wonder if I could use them to make a great meatloaf. One late afternoon, I began scouring the internet and finally found a recipe that incorporated the Panko bread crumbs and adjusted the seasonings to my taste. We had it for dinner that evening and it was delicious! . . . and to top it all off, nine hours later I went into labor. (No joke- true story folks!) I will ALWAYS wonder if it was the meatloaf. . .

Gather your ingredients. . .

Here are the Panko (Japanese Style) bread crumbs. These are also great as a breading for tilapia! Someday, I will share that recipe!

Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl!

Mix well! Be sure that all the Panko crumbs are distributed evenly throughout the mixture or you will have clumps of Panko in your meatloaf. Trust me- I speak from experience!

Form the mixture into a loaf and place into prepared pan. Drizzle with remaining ketchup.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a baking pan. Place the ground beef, eggs, panko crumbs, 1/2 c. ketchup, (reserve 1/4 for topping the meatloaf), seasoning blend, garlic, onion, salt and pepper in bowl and mix well. Be sure all crumbs are incorporated evenly into the mixture. Form into a loaf shape, and place in prepared pan. Drizzle with remaining 1/4 c. ketchup. Bake 1 hour to an internal temperature of 160 degrees.

Very long story short... bought a beautiful 2 lb roast yesterday and to my shock the butcher ground the meat.... I have no clue why because I did not make that request... anyway ur receipe will be made as Christmas dinner instead of the original plan (thank goodness I have all ur listed ingredients)... thanks for sharing and Merry Christmas!